Dolphins vs. Patriots: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

1) No major injuries to report as of now. Tony Sparano said “we had some dings” and “maybe one or two things that could’ve been bigger, but we’ll see today.” Tony McDaniel missed the second half with a right hand injury. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith suffered cramps. Brandon Marshall and Jason Taylor should both be fine moving forward. John Denney appeared to have some sort of shoulder injury. And Sparano said running back Daniel Thomas wasn’t that close to playing with his hamstring injury.

2) The Dolphins worked out four running backs on Tuesday morning, according to NFL.com: Brian Westbrook, Julius Jones, Dmitri Nance and Thomas Clayton. None were signed, but the Dolphins will continue to look for upgrades at running back.

And now, let’s get on with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from Monday’s 38-24 loss to New England.

THE GOOD

* Chad Henne’s aggressive tendencies. He averaged 8.5 yards per attempt, up from 6.7 a year ago. Henne completed 10 passes of 20 yards or more, compared to just 37 all of last season.

Chad Henne showed more emotion in one night than he did in the last two years / Allen Eyestone, Post staff

* Chad Henne’s poise in the pocket and at the line of scrimmage. Monday was the first game that Henne was allowed to audible plays at the line, and by all accounts it went smoothly. “We didn’t get into anything that at the line of scrimmage was a blunder,” Sparano said. “Chad handled all those situations really well.”

* Chad Henne’s leadership. He took a bunch of shots from Patriots’ defenders, but never let it get him down. “He was getting hit, and he still completed the ball downfield,” Richie Incognito said. “You never question 7’s toughness, his merit or his heart.”

And Henne remained positive with his teammates even after the game got out of hand in the fourth quarter. “Even at the end of the game, he’s in our corner saying he’s proud of the effort we’re putting in,” right tackle Marc Colombo said. “He’s one of the better leaders I’ve been around, and I’ve been in the NFL for 10 years. He’s the type of guy who gets us in there doing extra work, we watch extra film, things that I wasn’t used to at other places. It’s good to have somebody, especially at quarterback, take charge of the team.”

* Henne’s scrambling. Who knew the guy could run? He finished with 59 rushing yards on seven scrambles, with a long of 19 and a nine-yard touchdown. He became the fourth player in NFL history to throw for 400 yards and rush for 50 in the same game, joining Bobby Layne, Steve Young and Matt Cassel. “He looked like (Michael) Vick,” Brandon Marshall joked.

* Brian Daboll’s aggressive tendencies. Calling a QB draw for Henne? Putting Paul Soliai in at fullback? Calling for several big shots down the field? Utilizing a 3-WR set as the base offense? Throwing the ball down at the goal line? It didn’t always work, but it was good to see the Dolphins take some chances after playing things so close to the vest last year. The Dolphins’ 488 total yards were more than they gained in any game last year. “Coach Daboll, he’s really smart, and I really love his aggressive attitude,” Colombo said.

* The pass catchers. Marshall had a big game, catching seven for 139 yards. Davone Bess had five for 82. Anthony Fasano had a beautiful one-handed catch and finished with five for 82. Reggie Bush caught nine passes for 56. Brian Hartline had four for 47. The Dolphins look like they have legit fantasy football options in the passing game this year.

* Jared Odrick. Welcome to the NFL, finally. Sparano said Odrick was a bit inconsistent on Monday night, but he made a huge play in the third quarter when he snatched a batted pass out of the air and rumbled 43 yards down to the Patriots’ 9. It was Odrick’s first interception at any level of football. “It felt good, but it doesn’t really matter without the win,” he said.

* Bill Belichick’s dry wit and Wes Welker’s sarcasm. I know you hate the Patriots, but as a journalist, these guys crack me up. Belichick with the overstatement of the year after the game: “We’ve certainly got a long way to go.” Yeah, cause they played so horribly on Monday night.

And Welker corrected reporters when they asked him about his 99-yard touchdown. “I think that’s 99-and-a-half yards,” he said. And he’s right – the ball was clearly inside the 1. A touchdown can’t possibly be any longer than the one he scored last night.

* Brandon Fields. Another banner day for the Dolphins’ punter: 6 punts, 51.2 average, 41.3 net, long of 59.

THE BAD

* Henne’s accuracy. He still had issues with his ball placement, particularly in the Red Zone. He should’ve had one pass to Marshall intercepted in the end zone. A second pass to Marshall in the end zone had no chance of being completed. And his fade pass to Hartline on 4th-and-goal from the 1 was thrown too high. “Obviously, I just need to give him a chance,” Henne said.

* The offense taking its foot off the pedal. The first drive was great. After that? Punt, punt, punt, punt, as the Dolphins tried but failed to establish the running game. Miami twice had the ball on the 1-yard line but came away with just three total points. Of their first 10 drives that started in their own territory, only one ended in a touchdown. And 213 of their 488 total yards were gained in the final 8:48, when the game was pretty much already decided. “We did all that work to come out with so few points. It’s disappointing,” Incognito said.

Reggie Bush got into the end zone here, but he didn't do much in the running game / Allen Eyestone, Post staff

* The running game. Without Thomas, the Dolphins relied almost exclusively on Bush, who had 11 rushes for 38 yards (3.5 yards per carry). Lex Hilliard had two carries for 1 yard and got stuffed once on the goal line. Larry Johnson didn’t play on offense. Bush gained 94 yards on 20 touches, and Sparano said he hopes to get Bush about 20-25 touches each week.

* The blocking up front. Henne was sacked four times and hit to the ground several other times, though two of the sacks came in the fourth quarter when the Patriots knew the Dolphins were passing. “We were picking him off the ground way too many times,” Incognito said.

* Incognito’s penalties. Speaking of Incognito, he had two bad holding calls in the first half. The Dolphins overcame the first one to score a touchdown on the opening drive. The second one halted the Dolphins’ momentum as they reached midfield late in the second quarter. “Squarely on my shoulders,” Incognito said. “Just poor fundamentals, and put myself in a bad situation.”

* Mike Pouncey’s inconsistent play. Sparano said Pouncey played pretty well overall, but he has room for improvement. “The good news is this is Week 1, it’s not Week 8 or 9, so you just have to assume that these things are going to get better,” he said.

THE UGLY

* The defense. All of it. No one played well. Click Here to see all of the different records set by the Patriots’ offense on Monday. “Not the defensive performance that we were hoping for,” Sparano said. “I mean, they had almost 700 yards of offense, so that’s an understatement.”

Tom Brady had a clean pocket all night / Allen Eyestone, Post staff

* The pass rush. The Dolphins sacked Tom Brady just once, and he had the cleanest uniform in the stadium. “We didn’t rush worth a darn,” Jason Taylor said.

* The secondary. Corner Vontae Davis got burned on a 46-yard completion to Matthew Slater. Sean Smith got burned on a 30-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez. Benny Sapp and Nolan Carroll got burned by Wes Welker and Deion Branch too many times to count. “Nobody in the back end really played tremendously well,” Sparano said.

* The linebackers. Weren’t Kevin Burnett and Karlos Dansby signed to slow down the tight ends? Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined for 13 catches, 189 yards and two touchdowns. “Obviously, we have to do a better job against the tight end,” Sparano said.

* Tackling. New England’s BenJarvus Green-Ellis slipped four tackles en route to a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. While we don’t have any official stats, Burnett wasn’t happy with the Dolphins’ tackling. “I know I missed three, four, maybe five,” he said.

* Conditioning. Someone get these guys some pickle juice. Davis and Smith both had to leave the game because of cramps. Marshall and Taylor cramped up as well. “It’s hot,” Smith said. “I hydrated all week but my body overheated. That’s what happens.”

A lot of sad faces in the Dolphins' secondary at the end of Monday's game / Allen Eyestone, Post staff